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Waterloo Pastoral Leaders
Statement of Belief
We,
the pastors and pastoral leaders of the Catholic Church in
Waterloo, Iowa, believe that we must proactively plan our
ministries for the next decade and beyond in order more
faithfully to serve God’s people by advancing the mission of the
Church more effectively. We believe that Church to be a single
people of all races, ages, and social conditions gathered around
our bishop to proclaim and celebrate in Word and Sacrament the
new life we have in Christ Jesus.
We
believe that we are confronted by a unique opportunity, even as
we wrestle with practical questions of membership and resources,
to re-envision ministries and services, while remaining faithful
to the spirit and the firm teaching of the Second Vatican
Council. We are confident that difficulties can become
stepping-stones to renewal through God’s grace and our own
fidelity, enabling us to creatively transcend apparent negatives
such as shrinking numbers and ideological divisions.
The renewal we envision must be
solidly based on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council
about the nature of the Church as People of God and Body of
Christ, responding to the universal call to holiness, gathering
around the table of the Lord, and journeying together to the new
and eternal Jerusalem. Within that People, the lay faithful are
called primarily to mission in the world of family, work and
community.
At the same time, depending upon talents, gifts, and
opportunity, some have a special call to collaborate in
ecclesial ministries. We believe, therefore, that we must
continue to enlarge the empowerment of the laity that has taken
place since the Council. We must call for lay people to make
generous use of their gifts and talents in the service of the
church and world. To this end, we acknowledge the need to
devote more resources to the education and formation of laity,
both professional and volunteer.
In planning our ministries we know
that we must carefully discern the needs of our times and the
characteristics of the larger culture so that in reaching out to
members and non-members alike we can be more effective in the
work of evangelization. We believe that with God’s help we can
begin to heal the wounds inflicted on persons and on the church
itself by the sins and failures of our people and ministers,
realizing that in part these failures underlie the alienation of
many.
At the same time, we believe that our
culture is often opposed or apathetic to the gospel message we
proclaim. Those attitudes even find their way into our own
membership. In spite of all this, we carry in our hearts the
hope and confidence given to us by the resurrection of the
Lord. We believe that we can meet these challenges from within
by promoting greater faithfulness.
On the strength of that faithfulness, we can engage our
contemporary culture and help to transform it, reaching out to
all in prophetic service. As we do so, we also recognize the
many positive factors present in our changing society. Among
these are: increasing ethnic diversity, a hunger and thirst for
the spiritual, and a growing recognition of the need for unity
and inclusion.
We recognize that certain factors affecting the very
mission of the church today are in tension with one another.
This calls for balance in our planning so that these tensions
may not be divisive but rather sources of creativity.
We must balance...
...the need to respond to the priest-shortage with the need
to avoid
succumbing to a crisis mentality;
...the need for professional staffs with the need to spread
ministries
among the whole people;
...the need to focus on the spiritual
with the need to attend responsibly
to the requirements of structure and finances;
...the need to serve the “faithful
remnant” with the need to reach out
generously to those whose participation may, at a given time, be
minimal;
...the need to support Catholic
schools with the need to devote human
and financial resources to the many other ministries that
define parish
life;
...the need to serve the traditional
family with the need to recognize
changing forms of family life;
...the need to form children in the
ways of faith with the need to foster
life-long faith formation;
...the need for parish identity with
the need for inter-parish
collaboration.
Adopted by the
Waterloo Pastoral Leaders,
February 2006.
Endorsed by the Pastoral Councils,
Spring 2006.
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Posted 03.28.10 • Last Update: 03.28.10 |